Timmy Hill held off Ryan Preece on a late restart to win at virtual Texas Motor Speedway in the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Hill said. “Very exciting times for us because we just don’t get the recognition on a normal basis. To be on an even playing field is excellent. The last lap was just one I will definitely remember for a while.”
William Byron started off on the pole, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his outside.
For the second race of the Pro Invitational Series, the quick repairs were reduced to only one for the drivers.
The field calmed down rather early on as the No. 24 of William Byron held the lead in the early going. John Hunter Nemechek, however, took Byron’s lead away as his Ford Mustang would spring to life.
Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney collided on the backstretch, collecting Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, and Bubba Wallace. Surprisingly, no caution was called. However, a wreck with Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell on Lap 27 would bring out the first yellow as they would both check up for Bobby Labonte and Austin Dillon off of Turn 4. The two collided, sending Bell and McDowell into the outside wall.
Byron would continue to lead on the restart, but Preece would immediately take the top spot on Lap 54. Preece’s lead would be short-lived as Nemechek would pass the No. 37. With the field clumped together, Preece lost multiple positions.
Anthony Alfredo found trouble as he slammed the Turn 3 wall head-on, knocking him out of the race. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Ty Dillon would stay out, and those three would be the leaders on the restart.
Byron, with four fresh tires, would quickly pass those on old tires and would re-take the lead.
Earnhardt found problems as he slapped the Turn 4 wall on Lap 73. The No. 8 would get damaged on the right side, dropping him outside the Top 10.
Pit road proved to be slippery for some drivers as the cycle began. Nemechek would nearly spin coming in, as well as Alex Labbe.
Earnhardt and Ross Chastain stayed out, banking on a yellow to increase their chances of gaining track position. The green would remain and the two would eventually have to pit as they neared 20 to go.
Byron, Hill and Nemechek would cycle out as the Top 3 after pit stops.
A yellow would fly with 16 laps to go when Daniel Suarez crashed on the backstretch. Suarez was parked for trying to wreck Ty Dillon. With the yellow out, everyone migrated down to pit road, and Byron would be the first one out of the pits.
As Byron led the restart, carnage would follow in suit. Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle made contact off of Turn 2, sending the two Fords into the inside wall and up into Matt DiBenedetto, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Majeski, and Ty Dillon.
Byron again would have to fend off the field on another restart attempt with five laps to go. Labonte spun on the frontstretch trying to get going, but no yellow would fly.
The battle for the lead would heat up as Hill pulled the bump and run on Byron with four laps to go, sending the No. 24 Chevy up the hill, allowing Hill to take the top spot.
Shortly afterward, Parker Kligerman and Nemechek would bang fenders off of Turn 4, sending them into the paths of Preece, Labbe, and Byron. The caution came out, bunching the field up yet again but Hill held off the field to take the checkered flag over Preece. He would edge him out by nearly five hundredths of a second.
Garrett Smithley, Landon Cassill, and Alex Bowman would round out the top five.
There were five cautions within the 125-lap race.
Results:
- Timmy Hill
- Ryan Preece
- Garrett Smithley
- Landon Cassill
- Alex Bowman
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- William Byron
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Kyle Larson
- Kurt Busch
- Clint Bowyer
- Parker Kligerman
- Bobby Labonte
- Michael McDowell
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Ty Dillon
- Kyle Busch
- Chris Buescher
- Jimmie Johnson
- Chase Elliott
- Erik Jones
- Ross Chastain
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Bubba Wallace
- Alex Labbe
- Ryan Blaney
- Tyler Reddick
- Austin Dillon
- Ty Majeski
- Ruben Garcia Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Daniel Suarez (Disqualified)
- Christopher Bell (Disconnected)
- Anthony Alfredo (Disconnected)
